Post navigation

2 thoughts on “Newcastle, Canada awaits you in September!”

A question to all people living in a Newcastle around the world. What do you call a resident in your community? I am a Newcastle……. living in ……….. We would like to welcome ALL Newcastle….. to Newcastle, Ontario, Canada in September 2016 for the NOTW 2016 Conference

In Newcastle upon Tyne we’ve called “Novocastrians” (same in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia). Not many people use the Latin however! The common, friendly name is “Geordies”. A number of different theories explain how the term came about, though all accept that it derives from a familiar form of the name George, a very common name among the coal miners in North East England; in fact it was once the most popular name for eldest sons in the region.
Another coal mining explanation for the name is that miners in the region used “Geordie” safety lamps underground, designed by railway pioneer George Stephenson, known locally as “Geordie the engine-wright”, in 1815 rather than the competing Davy lamps, designed by Humphry Davy, used in other mining communities.
Another explanation is that it was established during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715. The natives of Newcastle were staunch supporters of the Hanoverian kings, in particular of George I during the 1715 rebellion. This contrasted with rural Northumbria, which largely supported the Jacobite cause – a political movement that aimed to restore the Roman Catholic Stuart King James II of England and his heirs to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland, supported by France.